Strong Island

Slow Art Day

Tomorrow sees the world celebrating Slow Art Day.

Slow Art Day is the global all-volunteer event with a simple mission: help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art.

Southsea based gallery The Gold Room will be hosting a slow art day event from 11am till 1pm where visitors will be able to explore current exhibition ‘Skullduggery’ by artists Andotherstuff and When We Were Cows.

Participants are encouraged to meet after the viewing and have lunch or a drink together, suggested venue is The Belle Isle which is a short walk from the gallery.

Southsea Coffee Co – Coming Soon

After much speculation, upcoming coffee house Southsea Coffee Co have finally announced their opening date in a teaser film embedded below. Occupying the old Holland & Barrett store on Osbourne Rd, the white-washed window has provided only the sneakiest of glimpses at the ongoing transformation of the shop which has been stripped back to its original fittings and given a deserved modern refit. Followers of the shops’ diligently updated social media sites will be well aware of the scale of the renovation, with industrially inspired and reclaimed furniture being installed today and the finishing touches being applied by the weekend, just in time for opening before the Bank Holiday on Thursday 2nd May.

If you’d like to keep up with shop in the run up to opening be sure to check out their Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Instagram for updates.

Southsea Coffee Co – Coming Soon

Book Club

Book Club starts tomorrow Thursday the 28th March and is curated by Chris Hilson. It will be hosted at The Gold Room at Room 237 on Elm Grove from 7.30 – 9pm.

The idea of Book Club is to start an underground reading group that explores not only classic literary figures like Hemingway and J.D Salinger but also alternative and unknown authors. The group has a no nonsense attitude to reading and this can be anything from graphic novels, pulp, art zines to un published works.

If your expecting a typical reading group then this probably isn’t for you, if you are however open minded and enjoy a beer, coffee and good conversation then come and join us.

The first session will be exploring short stories so no need to bring anything with you. The group has a BYOB policy so bring some refreshment although tea and coffee will be available.

 

Dark Horses Photography Exhibition on Friday

Originally from Portsmouth, photographer Ali Tollervey has for 3 years been embedded with the critically acclaimed band ‘Dark Horses’.  Sharing with them & documenting their journey so far from rehearsal room & tour bus to launching their debut album via opening for Kasabian  at Wembley & Beck at the Sydney state theatre. ..

The symbiotic relationship between visuals & music has been of key significance  to  Dark Horses’ creative output & collective approach.

Dark Horses are playing a free show in Portsmouth this Friday as part of a UK tour backed by Artrocker magazine & Club Mammoth. To coincide with this show the Gold Room are hosting an exhibition of Ali Tollervey’s Dark Horses photographs including some never before seen work. The band will be in attendance at the Private View and are scheduled to go on stage at The Registry at 11pm.

Find out more about the tour on Art Rocker and check out A Negative Narritive for an interview with the band and Ali’s photography.

Dark Horses Exhibition Facebook event page.

 

Dark Horses Poster

Teddy Bear Story

The Portsmouth City Museum is currently playing host to Teddy Bear Story until the 15th September 2013. Part of the collection is formed by some beautiful and rare bears on loan from the fabulous V&A Museum of Childhood in London. The exhibition also features famous teddies from books, television, film as well as teddies with personal stories.

This is sure to be a real treat for adults and children alike. The museum have lots of special events planned around the exhibition including bear hunts, story time and teddy bear puppet making workshops.

Advantage in Vintage wedding sale.

Local stylist and writer Naomi Thompson and vintage fashion expert Liz Tregenza have launched a huge vintage wedding sale on ebay as Advantage in Vintage. The pair plan four large sales of collections each year with the next being the 1970′s.

If you are planning on getting married or know of someone who is this is the perfect opportunity to bypass over priced wedding fairs and vintage stores. Naomi is also interested in buying vintage, selling and is also availible to source any pieces that you may have in mind so do not hesitate to contact her.

Zine Fair at The Gold Room

The Gold Room Gallery will be hosting it’s inaugural zine fair on Saturday 30th March from 11am – 5pm with celebrations carrying on in the evening at Champagne Justice held at the Southsea Social Club. There will be free zines, swaps, stalls selling handmade items, badges, postcards and books. Join the Zine Fair facebook event.

If you are interested in exhibiting, selling or drawing on the day please get in touch with the gallery by emailing goldroom@room237.co.uk

The program for the day looks like this-

11am: Open

12 noon: Guest speaker Syra Trek talks about zine culture and shares some rare and important publications.

1pm: Zine making with artist/illustrator Ken Leung and friends. Plus live drawing and collaborative artwork.

2pm: Live music from Leigh Mary Stokes

3pm: Short Film screenings

4pm: Raffle and prize giving for ‘Best in Show’ zine.

5pm: Close

8pm – 11.30pm: Champagne Justice (We’re talking bands, DJs and cheap booze, sweetheart. We’re talking about a freaking good time. Three quid on the door, what more can you ask for on a Saturday in Southsea?)

My Cardboard Life exhibition extended!

The Gold Room Gallery at Room 237 is currently showing the work of Philippa Rice, the show ‘My Cardboard Life’ has been extended until the 27th March. The work is on loan from the artist based in Nottingham so this will be your last chance to view it before the work returns home. The gallery and shop also stock a range of Philippa’s books, zines and postcards.

Soppy (extract) by Philippa Rice

Chalk It Up

‘Chalk it up’ are a collective of Portsmouth University students who decorate the streets with images and text. You may have seen their work around the city which often has a humorous and thought provoking feel to it. I am unsure who the members are but I think what they are doing is wonderful and really adds to the richness of Portsmouth’s Street Art culture.

Make

As an avid maker and artist I was totally stoked to learn of the arrival of Make on Albert Road. For years now I have either purchased my craft materials off the net, avoided the soulless Hobby Craft at all costs or made lengthy train journeys to London or Brighton. I was also insanely jealous of other cities having craft cafes and equipment you could hire. I can honestly say i’ts about time Portsmouth had a gem like this to add to our blossoming creative scene. So go out and support this business because without places like this we just have faceless high streets and nowhere to be creative.

‘Make’ is an independent crafts studio, incorporating varying craft workshops with supplies and equipment available to purchase. Our ethos is based within local community, sourcing local people and products where possible. A one of a kind creative space for people who want to embrace craft, but do not have the equipment, space and in some cases the know-how to pursue it. In the same vane as an Internet café, customers can come to hire workstations by the hour too. Aside from this there will also be the chance to learn. Workshops will be taught by local craft professionals, ‘Makers’, in crafts such as machine & hand sewing, knitting, crochet and other crafts that have minimal overheads. As well as the workshops ‘Make’ will lay host to organised events such as birthdays, corporate events, hen days and children’s parties.

‘Make’ is a unique award winning business idea, all of it’s services aren’t offered anywhere else in Portsmouth under the same roof. The Craft Council study ‘Making Value’, shows craft is having a huge resurgence and is vitally important to our flagging economy. ‘Make’ is a space to unwind in, and as research by the Craft Council has proved, participating in crafts has an amazing effect on reducing stress levels.

For more info contact: info@makesouthsea.com

Features

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island & local artist When We Were Cows present ‘Southsea in an Instant’ an instant photography afternoon walk where anyone with a camera that uses Polaroid, Impossible Project or Fuji instant film are welcome to get involved. We will be exploring Southsea seafront from 1pm on 18th May with our instant photography cameras, starting off at The Bridge Tavern Pub at The Camber in Old Portsmouth. We’ll then make our way to The Hot Walls and then along the Millenium walk and then the Prom to South Parade Pier.

From the pier we’ll make our way to Albert Road and we’ll then be holding an instant, pop-up exhibition with the photos taken during the walk in Little Johnny Russells from 5pm to 7pm. We’ll then put the photos up on our upcoming exhibitions archive section of the Strong Island website soon after.

If you want to get involved simply pop along to The Bridge Tavern from around 12:30 to 1pm, the more the merrier and all that. Look forward to seeing you there!

Southsea in an Instant, An Instant Photography Walk and Instant Exhibition

Strong Island Clothing Co X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt Available for Pre-Order

As you are probably well aware from reading the news recently, the Portsmouth Supporters Trust succeeded in their bid to take control of Portsmouth FC making it the biggest community owned club in the UK. It is a long and hard fought victory by the fans that have endured years of bad fortune, bad news and bad performances and a couple of the SI crew have seen most of them! PST’s aim is to bring about responsible, democratic representation at Portsmouth Football Club and so help promote the highest standards of transparent governance, accountability and embed Portsmouth FC deeper into its community through greater communication and co-operation with its fans.

We contacted the PST back in November last year to put forward our idea of doing a Strong Island PFC edition T-shirt to raise money towards buying a share in the club. The PST warmly welcomed the idea and we are pleased to say we are now putting our plan into action.

Strong Island is keen to get behind the trust as are many others. We’re going to pledge £5 of every limited edition SI X PFC tee sold towards Strong Island buying a share of the football club, therefore financially helping PFC in it’s aim to become stable again and continue to be a hugely important aspect of the city.

The design itself is a re-imagining of the common elements from the iconic Portsmouth FC logo from the 1980s and the Strong Island logo, with two swords in place, each dated with the club’s FA Cup wins. The Strong Island Clothing Co. items are normally hand screened in East London but for this particular tee they are produced literally just down the road from Fratton Park and will be at a special price of £15 (plus P&P).

No matter if you are passionate about football or not, we hope this tee is a way of showing support for a club that is now a beacon to the rest of the country for a city and a community that strives to work together for the better.

To pre-order the t-shirt click on the link below. Tees will be back from the printers soon and we hope to have orders in the post by the end of the month, if not sooner.

Strong Island Clothing Co. X Portsmouth Supporters Trust T-Shirt

Anglepoise, Strong Island and The University of Portsmouth Present The Creating Balance Project

We are very proud to announce The Creating Balance Project, a new, collaborative project between Anglepoise, Strong Island & the University of Portsmouth to celebrate a design classic and local creativity in Portsmouth. The project aims to showcase the working studios and disciplines of artists and designers across the island and connect them to local photographers to capture, document and collaborate.

Anglepoise lamps have been given to each of the 10 participating artists/designers and the 10 photographers involved have used the lamps to light the photographs, give a sense of place and document the artist, where they work & how they create. During the collaboration sessions University of Portsmouth BSc TV and Broadcast students Massimo Marzullo and Jonas Jakunas have been documenting the project, producing short films for each collaboration.

Later this summer key images from each photographer will be printed and displayed with the films, lamps, photos and more in an exhibition in Portsmouth and one in London (TBA).

The collaborations are:

Andrew Whyte & Peter Clutterbuck
Matt Sills & Lorna Apps-Woodland
Paul Gonella & Tristan Savage
Russell Squires & Farkfk
Josh Knill & I Love Dust
Thor Haley & William Pounds
Rob Luckins & Roo + Barry Abrook
Cotton Candy & Neal Layton + Sadie Tierney
Matt Saxey & Deer Park Alpha
My Dog Sighs & Jack Daly

The project is progressing over the next couple of months and already two films are finished and many collaborations complete. Below are the completed collaboration films and we will be posting updates on The Creating Balance Project regularly here on Strong Island. To keep up to date with the project also please check the Creating Balance website where you can see loads of photos from behind the scenes of the collaborations.

creatingbalanceproject.tumblr.com

A huge thank you to Claire Sambrook, Simon at Anglepoise and everyone involved.

The Creating Balance Project

The Creating Balance Project (3)

The Creating Balance Project (4)

The Creating Balance Project (5)

The Creating Balance Project (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Spring 2013 Capsule Now Available

It’s been a while (apologies) but the Strong Island Clothing Co. spring 2013 capsule drop is now available and online in the Strong Island Shop Ahoy store! The drop includes some brand new Branded tee colourways, a new grey crew (highest quality, carefully selected and sourced) and a collection of accessories including new beanies, our seriously high quality Branded iPhone cases (4 & 5) from Etch and our hand crafted, leather coin pouch collaboration with Raw & Auburn.

To kick this capsule drop off right we visited the home of Portsmouth’s Eberhardt signwriters and neon sign specialists. Eberhardt are a true creative business gem of the city with a very long history and still produce hand crafted, carefully designed neon signs, a rare and special craft these days. Check the photos below and the behind the scenes edit too to see more. Photography principally by Jack Daly.

View the full lookbook HERE.

www.strongislandclothingco.com

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (1)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (2)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (3)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (4)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (5)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (6)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (7)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (8)

Strong Island Clothing Co. Collections - Spring 2013 - Eberhardt (9)

Opening Night of the My Dog Sighs Exhibition at The West Bank Gallery in London

Southsea and Portsmouth street artist (and Strong Island contributor) My Dog Sighs had the opening to his solo show in London last night and as expected, he killed it. ‘Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me’ opened at The West Bank Gallery and is home to not only the largest collection of My Dog Sighs’ work to date but also shows his work sparking off in to some new directions of creativity including the apples, collaborations with other artists and a room covered with paintings that can be cut out to reveal a painting underneath.

Word was that pre-opening sales had gone really, really well and there were people outside the gallery at 8am, ready and willing to wait the ten hours on the pavement to get their chance to have a look and buy some of My Dog’s work. Don’t take our word for it, below are the thoughts and opinions of the show by the people who experienced it and I think say all you might need to know…:

“I’ve been to several exhibition openings but none as been as warm as the one of MyDog. He was there happy to meet his fans and the staff was friendly, helpful and more than happy to introduce you to him. And about the art, what can I say; it’s truly sweet and inspiring. You have either the eyes that give an entire story in their gaze to the delightful stick men, all accompanied by simple but touching phrases”. – Dette Marhez

“I queued from 8 in the morning and throughout the day MDS popped out offering coffee and to talk to the brave hardy souls braving the temperatures. His whole manner on the run up and throughout the day and night is an example to any up and coming artist and artists in general. The gallery is a cracking space to show in and the work on show was of the highest order. MDS and the collabs were exhibited so well it was pleasure to wander around and warm up!” – Rob Pike

“The show promised big things and I was not disappointed. After an impressive 12 months from his first solo show at Pure Evil, I was looking forward to seeing how Can Man had progressed. There was not a bare wall in the gallery and the whole show felt like an art hunt with pieces hiding in every nook and cranny. With so many pieces to choose from MDS had taken his work to the next level and even managed to capture the innocent of a lost can on the street that you can take home and put on your wall. The hype is well deserved and things can only get better!” – Ryk Turner

“I loved it. It’s kind of like he’s brought life and beauty back to the discarded and neglected. Whilst other pieces capture solitude, loneliness and searching, leaving you topped up with that warm-glow of finally finding The One!” – Les Black

“Had a fantastic time. Just unbelievable what he’s managed to produce. Incredibly varied work. Totally stunning”. – Rick Christie.

The show is open to public until Sunday 31st March and there is also a bit of a special event tomorrow (Saturday) too. Gallery open daily 11am-7pm. Below are photos of last night’s opening by Strong Island homie Jack Daly.

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (2)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (4)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (5)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (6)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (9)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (10)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (11)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (12)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (3)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (16)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (17)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (18)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (20)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (22)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (23)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs, Photo by Jack Daly (24)

'Walk By, Ignore Me, Forget You Ever Saw Me' Exhibition by My Dog Sighs